I ran the Scare Away Brain Cancer 5k today, and was 2nd female in 17:39. I didn’t know it at the time, but the woman who beat me, by about 2 seconds, was Canadian steeplechaser Dana Buchanan (10:02 steepler and winner of Canadian Olympic Trials). I didn’t know she was living here in Rochester, but am excited for another speedster in town!
Peace… and second place.
Last night Jeff and I were able to go out to dinner because my in-laws were in town for the night. While I wanted to eat some pasta at home like I usually do for 5k distance, I also wanted to take advantage of the night and eat at one of our favorite restaurants The Owl House. So, out to dinner we went. I knew this would come back to haunt me. I had water, vegan bruschetta, and the Buffalo Stance sandwich (which is like a buffalo chicken sandwich but vegan – spicy seitan sandwich).
We got home and Currie was having a rough time. I’m getting a cold so I wanted to get good sleep. Unfortunately good sleep wasn’t in the plan for the night. 6:03am came too soon!
I went with the regular almond butter sandwich and 40 oz of water but drank one cup of green tea instead of coffee, mostly because we are out of coffee and I didn’t want to walk 2 blocks to Starbucks in the rain.
We got to the race, and I ran just over a mile warmup with Jeff because we were running a little late on time. I noticed my calves were a bit tired and my glutes, super high by my hip bones, were sore. I’m not sure why, but my guesses would be either:
- The 10 strides I did as part of my run on Thursday before driving for 8 hours.
- The higher mileage I started 2 weeks ago.
- The general lack of stretching this week.
A few things to note:
- Did you notice my 99 cent “throw-away” white gloves in the picture at the beginning of this post? Some lady actually yelled “nice gloves” in an enthusiastic voice during the race. I sure hope she was talking about my Oiselle armwarmers!
- I wore my Garmin during the race, never looked at it until I got home, but it sure was nice to have splits automatically taken. (I usually don’t race in a Garmin, superstition.)
- There were just over 500 people in the race today.
- We had to slow considerably on each turn (there were quite a few turns) because it rained last night and there were lots of leave on street corners. I was worried someone would trip, but I didn’t see any falls in front of me. People were being very cautious. Wet leaves are treacherous!
- It was about 50 degrees with a slight mist during the race. I couldn’t have asked for better racing weather. I was worried about it being really cold and rainy, but we got very lucky.
There you have it! How is your weekend of racing shaping up?! Good luck to everyone racing on Sunday!
Awesome job out there! When you guys came around the final turn I thought you had a chance of pulling off the win! Solid run! My wife set a nice 2 min pR on the course, wet but pretty quick times for everyone!!!
Thanks Eric! I thought I had the win for sure, but I gagged my way to the finish line.
Next time! Congrats to Sheila as well!
Sounds like a pretty fast 5K with a lot of talent. Great job!! You were also quite speedy getting your race recap up! lol!
Yes, this was my fastest recap turn around time ever! If I don’t PR in my race, I have to PR in something!
Congrats on another AMAZING race!! This makes me want to race a 5k so badly! I really want to break 18 minutes next year…I think I will focus more on this distance and gaining speed after this marathon. Enjoy your prizes!!:)
You will break 18 for sure! For now, enjoy your last week of taper!
No racing for me, but awesome job! And that pic of Currie is so cute!
An inspirational post as always, Jen! Congrats on your amazing finish!
Thanks Hyedi!
I read this yesterday but was too consumed with hurricane prep to comment… just wanted to say congrats on another great race! I’m sure it’s a little frustrating to be so close to first place, but I think you put forth a great effort despite the lack of 5k-specific training. Did you decide on a goal race yet, or just going with the flow for now?
You inspired me to try taking a gel before my race, but I only got about a teaspoonful. I guess I’ll try again next week. I did wear compression socks for the first time and my legs feel great today!
Thanks Mollie! Yes, I have a race coming up! Posting about it tomorrow most likely.
I have a hard time choking down gels too. Do you know what helped me? Taking one at the same time as my brother. Yes, it’s strange, but I chalk it up to “strength in numbers” and “trusting what my coach does” and “taking myself out of the equation and thinking about someone else”. I’ve never been able to choke down a gel alone, but taking at the same time as him somehow made it easy!
Glad to know the compression socks worked well for you. I’m all about the experiments lately! I can’t wear them racing. my legs feel claustrophobic!
great job in the race the other day. it was awesome to run against such a deep field! i noticed that you mention the owl house and the buffalo stance in your above post. are you vegan? i too have fallen prey to an owl house addiction and literally cant bring myself to get anything but the buffalo stance, vegan mozz sticks and vegan nachos. anyhow, i tend to do ultras more as i get older, but im sure ill be seeing you at 5’s and 10’s from time to time. again, great job. its inspiring to have such talent around.
Hi Mike! Yes, I love the Rochester running scene! There’s always a pretty deep field and good numbers of participants at the races.
I also ALWAYS start with the vegan mozz sticks!
I’m not vegan, in fact I’m not even a vegetarian because I occasionally eat meat. I mostly eat from the earth and avoid dairy although cheese is my downfall. I’ve been trying to avoid dairy more and more lately.
I love the buffalo stance at Owl House! I always say I’m going to get something different, then can’t do it. When they were updating the menu I wrote multiple messages and asked in person to KEEP THE BUFFALO STANCE! They said it’s a popular sandwich so I didn’t have to worry.
I’m sure I’ll see you soon!